Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. For 50 years Peace Corps volunteers have given their generous talents and skills to help the poor in developing countries, thereby increasing understanding between diverse cultures. Peace Corps volunteers live within the communities that they serve, and they are often located in places with unreliable access to communication, nor to the police, nor for medical services. And historically, sadly, media have underplayed the dangers of serving in the Peace Corps and they have underreported or overlooked any criticism or any problem related to the Peace Corps. But now their own volunteers, the Peace Corps' own volunteers, have come forward with a demand for change. Congress has had several previous opportunities to help pass reform legislation to help the Peace Corps better protect its volunteers overseas. But, sadly, these efforts and these previous attempts have fallen short. Now we have this bill, Senate bill S. 1280, that has had bipartisan and bicameral support and was drafted with the input from the Peace Corps itself and from the volunteers also. It is unacceptable that U.S. citizens, Peace Corps volunteers, do not enjoy protection from regional security officers who are stationed at our overseas diplomatic posts because their role in protecting volunteers has not been clearly defined. Regional security officers are United States law enforcement officials.…”